Part B News | Part B News

EHR update: Reporting period may be cut to 90 days, 2017 goal for interoperability

02/09/2015

Practices should take note of two developments in meaningful use that could affect how they use their electronic health records (EHRs).

Protect your practice with policies for providers who use their own devices

02/09/2015

by: Scott Kraft

Have a policy that helps your practice deal with this common security breach that your providers may be committing.

Document key elements during initial contact with patient to get paid for TCM services

02/09/2015

About the initial point of contact with the patient when using the transitional care management (TCM) codes 99495 and 99496 -- Is documentation of the details of the call required to bill TCM?

Focus staff on care management to get ahead of changing payment mechanisms

02/09/2015

by: Richard Scott

Determine whether to hire an embedded care manager to work within your practice or assign the job tasks to existing staff to capture reimbursement dollars that hinge on value- and quality-based care measures.

Key to critical care is in documentation of condition, not patient location

02/09/2015

by: Scott Kraft

Don’t automatically bill for a critical care service because the patient is being seen in an intensive care unit or emergency department. While those are the more likely locations for critical care, the service can be billed in any place of service, including the physician’s office.

Document critical care work, especially outside the hospital, to avoid denials

02/09/2015

by: Roy Edroso

If you think you’ve got a case for using critical care codes but you’re not working a crash cart, double-check the billing criteria because few such claims pass muster outside the hospital.

PECOS updates will allow users to edit PECOS, NPPES at same time and more

02/02/2015

by: Roy Edroso

Here’s a roundup of significant changes expected in April or July to the Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System (PECOS), as explained by David Zetter, president of Zetter Healthcare Management Consultants, Mechanicsburg, Pa.

HHS: Medicare, private payers gear up for swift shift to quality-based pay

02/02/2015

by: Julia Kyles and Richard Scott

Expect to receive reimbursement based on how your patients fare next year as Medicare pushes forward on an ambitious plan to tie up to 85% of its traditional payments to quality or value by the end of 2016.

CCI: Adopt new rules for allergy tests and other services to avoid denials

02/02/2015

by: Richard Scott

Watch the way you bill allergy testing and immunotherapy — as well as audiologic testing, multiple fracture repair and other common services — to secure your rightful reimbursement.

Check changes, put in procedures to keep ever-changing IT HIPAA compliant

02/02/2015

by: Roy Edroso

Put extra tech in place — such as a patch program that covers all your software and a secure mobile gateway that people might actually use — to make sure your electronic health records (EHR) and other health IT doesn’t slip out of compliance and cause HIPAA violations.

Login

User Name:
Password:
Remember me Forgot password
Welcome to the new Part B News Online. If you are a returning user having trouble logging in, please click here.